BRICS faces unity test
India's BRICS presidency is under fire as opposition parties press PM Modi over a reluctance to push a BRICS summit or unified diplomatic initiative on the West Asia conflict, a sign the expanded bloc may struggle to act in crisis. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is instead pushing for deeper India‑Russia cooperation as a stabilizing axis, while the group's soft‑power efforts—like a women’s empowerment award at a BRICS summit—contrast with a House of Commons briefing warning that expansion and divergent interests threaten coherence. (m.economictimes.com) (thehindu.com) (hindustantimes.com) (commonslibrary.parliament.uk)
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh publicly challenged the government’s timing on March 23, 2026, asking why India had not moved up the 18th BRICS+ summit—scheduled in New Delhi later this year—to convene a diplomatic initiative on the West Asia conflict. (thehindu.com) Ramesh’s post specifically used the “Vishwaguru” jibe and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of avoiding steps that might “antagonise” US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar used a March 23 virtual address to urge deeper India‑Russia cooperation and called for the removal of non‑tariff barriers to raise bilateral trade from about $68.7 billion to a targeted $100 billion by 2030. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Russian counterparts, including remarks reported from Sergey Lavrov, framed the engagement as strengthened and signalled that Moscow expects continued high‑level interaction, with Russian hosts said to be looking forward to Prime Minister Modi’s visit later this year. (businessworld.in) A UK House of Commons Library briefing published in November 2024 notes BRICS’ 2024 expansion to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE and warns that enlargement — plus differing member priorities — poses a real challenge to the group’s coherence and unified crisis action. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) At the same time, BRICS’ soft‑power activities continued in New Delhi on March 23, 2026, where Jharkhand MLA Kalpana Soren received the BRICS CCI “Women Empowerment Trailblazer” award at the BRICS CCI WE Annual Women Summit and Felicitation 2026. (hindustantimes.com)
